Even before my days as a vile Gamestop employee, I made a practice of pre-ordering games that I knew I was going to end up purchasing anyway. Sports games were always high on my priority list. I needed my football and baseball fixes on day one. Most of the time, there was never an incentive, other than calling out of work sick to stay home and play all day. This year, Sony's going to be giving away six ballparks of yesteryear to those of you who pre-order MLB 10: The Show from either Gamestop or Amazon. I don't care what the rest of you think, but I can't wait to get my Shibe Park on.

The six classic fields are:

• Shibe Park - Opened April 12, 1909 in Philadelphia, it became the first steel-and-concrete stadium in baseball.
• Forbes Field - Opened in 1909, was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and was witness to a World Series-winning 9th inning homerun in 1960.
• Polo Grounds - Opened in 1890, was known for its extremely deep center field (483 ft) and unique bathtub shape.
• Crosley Field - Was the home field of the National League™ Cincinnati Reds™from 1912 through June 24, 1970.
• Sportsman's Park - Was built in St. Louis in 1902. Left-handed power hitters loved hitting here.
• Griffith Stadium - Stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, measuring over 400 feet down the left field line.

Both the Polo Grounds, where Bobby Thompson's  "Shot heard 'round the world" was hit, and Shibe Park, later to be known as Connie Mack Stadium, are excellent old timey ball fields with absurd dimensions, and tons of classic American architecture. Sportsman's Park is another great field to play games on, particularly with the power hitters that fill line-ups today.

There's no indication as to how these stadiums will be implemented in the game, but hopefully we'll be able to use them in Franchise/Season modes in addition to using them for exhibition matches. I'd love to take my Phillies out of Citizens Bank Park to play at ol' Shibe. Not that I don't love Citizens Bank Park, it's just that I'll never get to see a real game at the demolished stadium, and I'd really enjoy the feel of pre-war baseball in my living room.